Lost Kingdoms Frontier

The party explores the goblin infested mine.

The party continued their exploration of the abandoned mine. Less than a dozen yards north of the secret chamber, they came upon a guard post with four goblins on duty. The group killed the goblin guards with little difficulty and pressed on along the passage, which led them to a small chamber that was apparently used as a meeting room. Not far from the meeting room was a small armory. Although most of the weapons do not seem very serviceable, Rena discovered a masterwork quality shortspear that was given to Zaryn.

To the east of the armory, the party opened a door to a room filled with magical darkness that their torchlight could not penetrate. A pack of dire rats charged from the darkness. One delivered a particularly nasty bite to Chayna before she could kill it. Unable to defeat the darkness enchantment, the party continued south, then east where the passage ended in a couple of rooms that served some apparent religious purpose. The first seemed to be a sleeping chamber, but the stench of death permeated the room, and humanoid skulls hung from the ceiling by steel chains. The gory remains of a gnome were crucified to the south wall. The room next door was a shrine to some sort of rat god, a stone statue rested on a small altar. The shrine was guarded by a pair of dire rats, and after the party dispatched them, they searched the room and took the statue with them.

Backtracking and continuing down another passage east and south, the party found a larger shrine to a rat god featuring a large green marble statue with two brilliant rubies for eyes. While Zaryn pried out the ruby eyes of the statue, Chayna perused the numerous scrolls scattered around the altar. Most were written in Sylvan and seemed to indicate the rat god being worshiped was Mazgurar, but none in the party had any familiarity with that deity, as it was not a god typically worshiped by goblins. After acquiring the ruby eyes, the party destroyed the shrine and continued their exploration.

The passage to the south ended at a door that opened into a bedchamber basked in an odd blue light from black candles. The room was decorated with a collection of trophies from numerous noble families. Searching the room, Cyril found a wooden box containing a couple dozen of the strange black candles. The party also took with them the large shield from above the bed with a crest of a black falcon grasping a pick and shovel in its talons. Backtracking again to another passage leading south, the party enters a large audience chamber to be greeted by the large goblin chieftain, Rez-zomar, seated upon a high-backed wooden chair and flanked by two bodyguards. He challenged the party in Common, declaring:

I smell the blood of my tribe on you! Now you will learn why Rolann put me in charge!

To the party’s surprise, the chieftain and his bodyguards transformed into wererats before assaulting the party. More disturbing was the discovery that the wererats were resistant to the party’s attacks. The magical silvered longsword proved most effective in Cyril’s hands, and after a brutal battle the party defeated the chieftain and his bodyguards. Following the battle, Zaryn cast detect magic, noticing the chieftain’s black studded leather armor and a grate behind the large high-backed wooden chair. The studded leather armor was given to Chayna. Inspection of the grate showed bars constructed of black-tarnished silver with strange runes inscribed upon them. The runes were meaningless to the party members. The grate was also locked, but Chayna was confident that she could unlock it. The party decided instead to first return to Silverton before proceeding to the lower level of the mine.

The goblin raiders are tracked to an abandoned silver mine.

Summary

Chayna led the group to where the caravan was attacked. From there, Cyril used his tracking skills to follow the goblin trail back to the open mouth of the abandoned Gannu family silver mine. Lighting a torch and readying their weapons, the party followed the trail into the winding mine tunnel, but roughly 100 yards in, the passage way is blocked by rubble from the tunnel having collapsed. Suspicious, Chayna searched the area and discovered a hidden latch that caused the “collapsed” section of the tunnel to rise revealing a room with four goblins that immediately attack. Recklessly charging into the battle, Chayna was nearly felled by a vicious strike of a goblin axe. The other party member quickly engaged the goblins and dispatched them. Zaryn administered a healing potion that revived the elven rogue, and after a short rest, the party presses on into the mine.

While searching through a nearby room that had been converted into a barracks, the party disturbed a pair of dire rats hidden underneath some soiled clothes. The party made short work of the dire rats, but not before Rena received a nasty bite. The next chamber investigated turns out to be some sort of dining area and kitchen. Nothing of interest was found, and while Cyril was curious enough to sample and confirm the foulness of the ale, no one was bold or foolish enough to taste the cauldron leftovers.

Not far from the dining area was another barracks with over half a dozen goblins. They fought viciously, giving no quarter, but proved no match for the party, although the encounter left Zaryn’s arcane energies depleted. Still the party pressed on into the mine, and along the winding passageway, Chayna discovered a secret vault. After disabling a portcullis trap, the party entered to discover three large crates marked with the emblem of the Elderbridge Mining Guild – stolen from the caravan. The party pressed on into the mine, deciding to deal with the crates later.

Not far from the secret vault was another dining and kitchen area. Two sacks in a corner showed signs of movement that stopped shortly after a few arrows from Cyril. Investigation revealed two, now deceased, dire rats. Continuing their explorations brought them to a tunnel section where Chayna noticed something peculiar. Closer examination resulted in the discovery of another hidden portal, but Chayna failed to notice the poison needle trap set in the opening mechanism. Fortunately for Cyril, his armor captured the needle without it penetrating when he opened the portal. The secret chamber contained a single locked chest that proved to be empty, but Rena found a stone slab in the floor that could be extracted to reveal a niche containing a silver longsword and a piece of parchment. Zaryn was able to confirm that the sword was enchanted, but no particular details. The group agreed that Cyril was the most sensible beneficiary of the sword. Securing the portal, the party made camp in the secret chamber for the night.

A group of friends depart their home village seeking passage to the main island.

Summary

A group of childhood friends set out from their home village of Shadeslay on Blacksin Island. The party consists of three friends, each with their own motivations:

Cyril is a human ranger born and raised in Shadeslay. He simply desires to the the world beyond his backwater home island.

Rena is a human monk whose family sought sanctuary in the Shadeslay monastery when she was an infant. She has been given a task by her monastic order

Zaryn is a human sorcerer orphan that the monastery took in when he was an adolescent.

Rena has been given the name of a contact at the island’s port of Tavershan. After assembling their basic supplies and saying their goodbyes, the group walks to the relatively nearby mining town of Silverton. Arriving near dusk, the party stops in the Silver Cup Inn for the night. The proprietor, Blas Anains, welcomes the trio, knowing Cyril and Zaryn from their numerous prior visits. Rena stays in the common room for the night, successfully fending off some unwanted attention with the timely application of an elbow. Zaryn procures a small room that Cyril sneaks into to avoid paying.

The next morning, the party visits the town’s herbalist and midwife, Bronwyn. She is a family friend of Cyril’s and also knows Zaryn quite well. While catching up on news and gossip, an elf enters the shop carrying an injured caravan guard. She identifies herself as Chayna Dawnbreeze and reports that a settler caravan had just been raided by goblins. While many were killed, the rest were taken captive by the goblins. She managed to escape with the injured guard and saw the direction the goblins were taking their prisoners. The party quickly agrees to join Chayna in tracking the goblins to their lair and investigating a possible rescue.

A Thieves Guild has broken into the treasury as part of their efforts to humiliate the local authorities.

On their way back to Shallowford, following their excursion to the dwarven city, the party stopped in Northold to enjoy a meal and drink at The Crimson Sage Taproom. The minstrel had the crowd going, but as he started up a song that not so subtly mocked the “marshalls,” a group of them entered the tavern. They proceeded to intimidate the minstrel and several of the patrons, one hitting on Sevela. The party’s old dwarven comrade, Krorun, happened to enter the taven at that time and promptly initiated a bar fight. A short time later, a larger contingent of the town guard arrived, and the party found themselves under arrest.

The party was brought to the office of Governor Drunn, an austere man with no real sense of humor. He concealed his frustration poorly as he addressed the party, providing an overview of his situation. A local thieves guild has been humiliating his Marshalls, but recently they raised the stakes by raiding the treasury. He admitted that although eager for vengeance, the knights were hesitant for fear of being further humiliated and earning further enmity of the people. Drunn’s idea was to use the party as a tool towards solving the mess. He offered clemency of the charges against the party if they locate the thieves’ stronghold, reiterating that none of the common folk would tell the Marshalls anything. Additionally, he hinted there would be payment if the stolen funds were recovered.

A few inquiries around town led the party to The Blue Demon’s Mug, a tavern rumored to be frequented by members of the guild. From a drunk and obese minstrel by the name of Fat Edward the party learned that the thieves guild intend to give all the tax money back to the people and have a hideout down in the city sewers. Reporting back, the Marshall assigned to the party will informed the characters that the sewers only run under the central, upper-class section of the city. One main sewage tunnel extends across the single main street back into the mountain and an underground river. Neither the Marshall nor Drunn had a map of the sewers – no work had been done on them in decades. The Marshall identified an access route into the sewers near the Governor’s mansion.

Exploring the sewers, the party quickly discovered a number of traps and tripwires set by the thieves guild. While the defenses, slowed the exploration process, they did not present a major challenge to the party. Unsurprisingly, the sewers had inhabitants that had to be dealt with as well, including a large group of monstrous spiders and a ghast that had already turned a couple of unfortunate thieves into ghouls. After several hours of exploration, the party came upon the thieves’ hideout.

The leader, Tamara, requested parley, which the party honored. She informed them that the lion’s share of the treasury funds has already been hauled out from the town to multiple destinations where it was converted into gems, making it effectively unrecoverable. If the party let them escape, she would allow them to return what hadn’t been re-minted. She also volunteered a contact in Shallowford that could prove useful to Zephar. The party agreed to the deal because the stolen funds were largely being redistributed to the over-taxed population, and they had no sense of obligation to Drunn.

After reporting the location of the hideout. Drunn’s men seized the treasury funds and minting equipment. Drunn cleared the charges against the party but refused to give them any reward, since most of the funds were missing, and the party failed to capture the operation’s ringleaders.

While Krorun is called away on another assignment by his mercenary guild, the rest of the party joins Eramil for an errand to the village of Kingsholm. There they learn that a family of mourners ventured up into the graveyard two days past and didn’t return. Nor did the pair of sentinels sent to investigate. The party agrees to investigate the matter, joined by Berholm, a paladin of Heironeous. Exploring graveyard, the party discovers the mausoleum has been infiltrated by a group of tomb robbers.

The party’s pursuit of the tomb robbers led them deep below the mausoleum into a secret tomb complex of an ancient king. Through overcoming many dangers of the tomb and tomb robber minions, the party gained insight into the history behind the tomb’s inhabitants and legend of the forgotten king, culminating in facing the evil Betrayer of the forgotten king. After defeating the Betrayer, the party find the king’s tomb and the the tomb robbers. The party discovers that the tomb robbers have fulfilled their objective, but not all have escaped. Knowing that they were being pursued, Xeron, leader of the tomb robbers, forced his remaining minions down a passage into the Underdark in a desperate attempt to avoid capture. The party defeats Xeron and learn that he is under the employ of a mysterious group named the Vanguard of Sertrous. Berholm is bequeathed the ancient sword, Merthuvial, by the spirit of the ancient King Theron, who also entreats the party to pursue the tomb robbers that escaped for they have taken his bones and the weapons of his wife and champions.

Returning to the village, the party claims their reward and decides to separate from Berholm in order to complete personal errands and rejoin at the village in a weeks time. The party returns to the town of Shallowford briefly before journeying to the dwarven capital city of Moran-arakh. There they trade treasures found from the tombs and upgrade their gear.

Initial episode of The King's Relics campaign arc. The party members are assembled to escort a caravan with special cargo to the frontier town of Shallowford.

1332PX

The party assembled in New Brundysion, capital city of the human province of Eurova in the Havens. Each of the members had been independently recruited by the League of the Lost Kingdoms, an organization promoting expansion into the frontier and reclamation of the Lost Kingdoms. Their assignment from Aldain Highstorm was to provide caravan escort to the frontier town of Shallowford, protecting a special cargo that turned out to be a pair of pegasus foals critical for establishing a new node in the transportation and messaging network. After a minor delay at the warehouse, the party set out with the caravan under the leadership of a dwarf named Gwaldir Glanthur.

The initial part of the expedition to the Barrier Passage proved largely uneventful, and the party met up with their frontier guide, Donen Shaladur, at the fortified town of Southold. While traveling through the Barrier Passage, the party came upon a group of giant centipedes that had just slain a mage. Dispatching the vermin, a search of the dead mage yielded a magic wand. The rest of the journey through the Barrier Passage to the stronghold of Northold proves uneventful. Sadly, the departure from Northold is delayed as Gwaldir must bail Zephar out of jail for “testing the security of locks” in town the previous night.

Heading out into the borderland foothills towards Shallowford and the frontier, Donen convinced the caravan to take an alternate route to avoid rumored goblin bandits that have begun harassing the main routes. Unfortunately this proved to be a ruse for ambushing the caravan and Donen revealed himself to be a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Magical Entities (PETME), an organization determined to free all magical animals from service to allied races. The party thwarted the ambush, slaying Donen and most of his cohorts, but did not come out unscathed. The quick administration of curing by Sevela prevented Gwaldir from succumbing to his wounds.

After a night of much needed rest, the caravan made its way back to the original route. Scouting for the caravan, Zephar discovered concerns of goblin brigands were more than just rumors. A large tree had been felled, effectively blockading the main road to Shallowford, and goblins lurked in the trees in ambush. Reconnoitering deeper, the party discovered the main goblin camp where another caravan was imprisoned. Zephar was able to sneak up to the prisoners’ cage and learn of explosives within the caravan goods that could clear the barricade. Under the cover of darkness, the party slipped extra weapons to the imprisoned caravan guards before freeing them and initiating a raid on the goblin camp. While the guards lead the main assault, the party dealt with the goblin sorcerer leading the brigands and blasted the felled tree, allowing Gwaldir to drive the caravan through. Searching the camp and the sorcerer yielded a few items and an alchemists lab.

The caravan arrived into Shallowford without further incident, and the party earns not only their guard fee for safe delivery but also a reward from the town sheriff for dealing with goblin brigands.

A blog for your campaign

While the wiki is great for organizing your campaign world, it’s not the best way to chronicle your adventures. For that purpose, you need a blog!

The Adventure Log will allow you to chronologically order the happenings of your campaign. It serves as the record of what has passed. After each gaming session, come to the Adventure Log and write up what happened. In time, it will grow into a great story!

Best of all, each Adventure Log post is also a wiki page! You can link back and forth with your wiki, characters, and so forth as you wish.

One final tip: Before you jump in and try to write up the entire history for your campaign, take a deep breath. Rather than spending days writing and getting exhausted, I would suggest writing a quick “Story So Far” with only a summary. Then, get back to gaming! Grow your Adventure Log over time, rather than all at once.